Drug and Alcohol Addiction Treatment Centers In

Massachusetts, the spirit of America, is a New England state best known for its colonial history as it relates to the American Revolution. The capital city of Boston is renowned for its Museum of Fine Arts, historical monuments like the Bunker Hill Monument, Cambridge Square, and Harvard University. With Cape Cod as part of its coast, Massachusetts is home to 6.8 million people and welcomes travelers and tourists throughout the year, mostly during fall and spring months.

Substance Abuse in Massachusetts

Massachusetts rates of substance abuse have trended slightly above the national average, especially in the areas of alcohol abuse and dependence. According to the Behavioral Health Barometer, published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence in Massachusetts among residents ages twelve and older has sustained above the national average since 2010, although it has been on a decline since then. Additionally, the report states that heavy alcohol use in individuals ages twenty-one and older has remained slightly above the national average, and 92.5 percent of people in Massachusetts did not receive treatment for alcohol use.

Illicit drug use in Massachusetts has been a far greater concern over recent years, as the state is among the top ten states for opioid overdose death rates in the nation. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the 2016 opioid overdose death rate in Massachusetts was 29.7 deaths per 100,000 people, compared to the national average of 13.3 deaths per 100,000 people. NIDA also reports that the most staggering increase in Massachusetts overdose deaths was attributed to synthetic opioids like fentanyl, rising from 67 to 1,550 death in the four-year period from 2012 to 2016. These dramatic statistics are concerning, although opioid prescriptions written in Massachusetts were well below the national average in 2015.

According to the 2016 Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS), more than fifty thousand people in Massachusetts cited heroin or other opioids as the primary substance of abuse for which they entered treatment. This number accounted for 59 percent of total addiction treatment admissions during 2016.

Addiction Treatment Options in Massachusetts

Massachusetts has an increasing number of addiction treatment providers and facilities with varying services and levels of care, to accommodate the growing number of people in the state who need help.